Mazda has confirmed of which its sports car concept headed to This kind of week’s Tokyo motor show will feature a fresh generation of rotary engine.

The fresh engine, which has been dubbed SkyActiv-R, was confirmed by the company’s head of research as well as also development Kiyoshi Fujiwara on the eve of the Tokyo show.

Speaking to Autocar, Fujiwara said: “People think rotary can not meet modern Eco demands. The SkyActiv engineers worked on rotary as well as also possess the idea cutting edge tech. the idea is actually an essential part of our DNA as well as also the idea just be passed onto future engineers. the idea is actually synonymous with the brand. Some time inside future the idea will return as well as also be called SkyActiv-R”

So far, Mazda has only issued a a shadowy teaser picture showing your vehicle is actually a coupe, plus a statement claiming your vehicle “clearly embodies the carmaker’s lineage” – thought to be a direct reference to the fact your vehicle could be rotary powered.

The statement added: “Designers strove to condense the company’s sports car history to as great a degree as possible into This kind of concept. Mazda is actually also highlighting the brand’s unique approach to the joy of driving.”

However, rumours suggest the concept could be the forerunner to a fresh, rotary-engined RX-8 road car. Mazda design boss Ikuo Maeda said the concept “represents our dream, yet we don’t want the idea to be a dream too long.”

Further hints as to concept’s rotary power source came earlier This kind of month when Mazda released details of various other cars of which will be shown on its stand, including the 967 Mazda Cosmo Sport 110S, the company’s first rotary powered mass-production style.

Speaking to Autocar at the recent Frankfurt motor show, Mazda president Masamichi Kogai confirmed of which the company still features a dedicated engineering team focussed on rotary engine development, as well as also revealed of which its staff are working “very enthusiastically” towards bringing the technology up to the standards of contemporary piston engines.

This kind of would likely require considerable improvements in cold-start characteristics, CO2 emissions as well as also torque at low revs, yet Kogai reiterated of which Mazda will not bring back rotary power unless the idea can match the standards of various other ‘conventional’ engines.

Kogai did not outline a timeline for any return of the RX brand – indeed, he declined to specify precisely why the rotary development team still exists – yet the idea’s feasible of which a successor to the RX-8 could appear by 2018, to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the original RX-7.

Mazda has also experimented with using rotary engines for different applications beyond being the sole powertrain for a vehicle. the idea has applied for patents using a rotary engine as a range extender on a hybrid system as well as also even demonstrated a prototype based on the previous generation of its 2 supermini back in 2013.

The Japanese producer killed off its last rotary-engined sports car, the RX-8, back in 2012 as its motor faced ever-tightening emissions regulations. The firm did build a prototype turbocharged RX-8, yet of which car would likely have failed to meet European requirements too, as well as also its further development could not be justified on Japanese sales alone.

In fact, rumours of Mazda’s return to rotary engines stretch back to 2010, when insiders hinted of which a successor the RX-7, potentially to be dubbed RX-9, was planned.

The Mazda Koeru, a crossover SUV concept of which debuted in Frankfurt in September, will also be on display in Tokyo.